COUP IN PARAGUAY OUSTS STROESSNER; GENERAL SWORN IN

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President Alfredo Stroessner, Paraguay's dictator for nearly 35 years, was overthrown today in a coup led by another general that reportedly left scores of people killed or wounded.

The coup leader, Gen. Andres Rodriguez, who had been General Stroessner's second-in-command, was sworn in as President, and a new nine-member Cabinet was also sworn in. General Stroessner was placed under arrest and ordered to leave the country.

Paraguayans gathered in the streets of the capital to cheer the ouster of General Stroessner and to view the damage left by hours of heavy fighting between rebellious soldiers and policemen and troops loyal to General Stroessner. Hopes for Democracy Voiced

Even though General Rodriguez has been linked to abuses of the Stroessner regime, many Paraguayans expressed hope that the coup would mark the end of decades of authoritarian rule.

[ United States officials said they hoped that the coup was a step toward democracy in Paraguay, but they expressed grave concern about reports linking General Rodriguez to narcotics trafficking. Page 5. ]

Officials who declined to be identified said General Rodriguez, 64 years old, whose daughter is married to one of General Stroessner's sons, led the coup after being told to resign. Colorado Party Dispute

The rebellion followed a dispute within the ruling Colorado Party between a ''militant'' pro-Stroessner faction and ''traditionalists'' who wanted to distance the 100-year-old party from the aging dictator, who seized power in a coup in 1954.

The 76-year-old General Stroessner was reported to be in custody at the First Army Corps headquarters outside the capital.

Radio Caritas, the Roman Catholic radio station, said General Stroessner had chosen to go to Chile. But in Santiago, the Chilean capital, Foreign Minister Hernan Felipe Errazuriz said no asylum request had been received.

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Gen. Mario Mardones, Commander of the Santiago Police, said: ''He's definitely not coming here tonight. He is still in Paraguay. That's official.'' General Mardones added, ''It is very likely that they will take him out of the country'' on Saturday.

[ Chile's Defense Minister, Adm.

Patricio Carvajal, said he believed that the Government would be willing to grant General Stroessner asylum, Reuters reported from Santiago. ]

During a short ceremony at the National Palace overlooking the Paraguay River, General Rodriguez, dressed in a green khaki uniform and wearing the red, white and blue presidential sash, swore to observe the Constitution. He then swore in the new Cabinet, consisting of a general, a retired general and seven civilians.

Sirens sounded for several minutes in the city and on boats anchored in the harbor. Armed soldiers manned roadblocks outside the building and at checkpoints throughout the city of 900,000 people. Between cars with tires shot flat, several large bloodstains dried in the oppressive heat. The colonial-style police headquarters was pockmarked with bullet holes, its windows shattered.

The death toll was uncertain. About a dozen bodies of soldiers apparently loyal to General Stroessner lay outside the headquarters of the presidential guard. Radio Caritas reported that at least 18 soldiers had been killed and that perhaps as many as 200 had died, but gave no source for its information. Mr. Laino estimated the toll at 100. Diplomats and other informed people said that General Rodriguez had apparently been ordered to give up his command of the elite First Army Corps and retire or accept the post of Defense Minister, and that he had refused.

During his reign, General Stroessner was accused of brutal repression and drew international criticism for granting refuge to several unsavory individuals, including Josef Mengele, the chief doctor at the Auschwitz death camp; Gen. Anastasio Somoza Debayle, the ousted Nicaraguan dictator, and Joseph August Ricorde, a reputed heroin trafficker.

The police, who under General Stroessner often used clubs, tear gas and electric cattle prods to break up gatherings, stayed away as about 5,000 people gathered in downtown Asuncion today to celebrate the overthrow.

This morning, General Rodriguez addressed the nation on the radio in a clipped, authoritarian voice, saying order had been restored ''and with it, all the human values of our entire Constitution will be respected.''

''I communicate to you that General Stroessner has surrendered and finds himself in perfect health, deprived of liberty, being shown all human rights, at a residence within the First Army Corps,'' he said.

A version of this article appears in print on February 4, 1989, on Page 1001001 of the National edition with the headline: COUP IN PARAGUAY OUSTS STROESSNER; GENERAL SWORN IN. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe